2000 scenario

[WalterMitty]

in 1996, senator arlen specter of pa wns the republican nomination.  he chose fmr. tn gov. lamar alexander as his running mate.

the specter/alexander did surprisingly well.  they bucked convetional wisdom and nearly beat clinton/gore.

in 2000, specter runs again and easily wins the nomination.  he chooses former mass gov. william weld as his running mate.

how would specter/weld fare against gore/lieberman?

[Lincoln Republican]

A remarkable election ensues. 

The liberal ticket of Specter/Weld makes tremendous breakthroughs in traditionally Democratic territory.  However, they scare the living daylights out of traditionally southern conservative voters, who abandon the GOP for the Gore/Lieberman ticket. 

This election turns traditional thinking upside down.

The two tickets battle to a draw.

Arlen Specter/Bill Weld          269 EV 50% PV
Al Gore/Joe Lieberman          269 EV 50% PV

The election is thrown into the House.   

[nini2287]

Gore/Lieberman 43% 263 EV
Specter/Weld 40% 233 EV
Falwell/Reed 17% 42 EV

The election is thrown to the House

[Lincoln Republican]

It's a long election night, with some extremely close states.

Rhode Island flips from Specter to Gore.

Alaska flips from Gore to Specter.

Maine remains very close, with Gore's lead shrinking all night, from 479 votes to 94 votes, with new returns coming in.  There are some precincts still to report, as they had experienced technical problems   Maine is too close to call, the networks decide, therefore they move it from the Gore column to the too close to call column.  The networks had prematurely called Maine for Gore.   

Electoral vote now stands at

Specter                   268
Gore                        266
Too Close To Call        4

A judicial recount is ordered for Maine.  All the ballots in Maine are to be recounted.  Both parties have agreed to the format and to abide by the results.  Both parties observe the recount.

Specter wins the recount by 237 votes.  The relentless campaigning in behalf of Specter from one end of the state to the other, by Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator Susan Collins, former Senator William Cohen, and former Governor John Mckernan, husband of Olympia Snowe, had paid off with a narrow win for Specter. 

Electoral Vote

Specter                   272
Gore                        266

Gore concedes, and Specter claims the Presidency.
   

[True Democrat]

Umm, no.  This would not happen.  Maybe something like this:



289-249 Gore

[PBrunsel]

Al Gore/Joseph Lieberman (D): 362 Electoral Votes

Arlen Specter/William Weld (R): 147 Electoral Votes

Bob Smith/Alan Keyes (C): 29 Electoral Votes

Smith plays spoiler, and costs Specter states he won in 1996; i.e. Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado, and Nevada. The states of Iowa, Idaho, and Illinois are decided by a few hundred votes.

President Gore is defeated in 2004 by the ticket of Governor Bill Owens and General Wesley Clark, with no right-wing insurgency, but a left-winged one led by Congressman Kucinich of Ohio.

[WalterMitty]

smith would not win nh (ask john sununu)